Breathing Frost
by Izaya-Aki
Summary: Bunnymund loves Jack's eyes. (A fill for the ROTG Kink Meme)
1. Chapter 1

It's when he firsts confronts Jack about the blizzard of '68 that he realizes he loves his eyes.

Tainted with shimmering lights and darks, his bright blue eyes seem to sparkle with mischief.

_Beautiful_.

But he quickly learns that Jack's eyes are also dangerous. They've nearly distracted him from his purpose:

to deal with the cause of the blizzard that covered thousands of homes and stopped his Easter googies in their tracks.

"Frostbite, what is ya problem? It's Easter! What is all ah _this_?"

Jack simply winks, smiling ear to ear, and Bunnymund tries to keep a firm grip on reality.

_Blinding_.

However, it's not enough to stop Bunnymund from running over to Jack and hoisting him in the air by the collar of his hoodie.

"What? Don't you like my present, kangaroo?"

He immediately regrets how close he's gotten to Jack's face. The winter spirit's eyes not only enchant him,

but they reflect the sky above them: moving, consuming...

_Alive_.

So he hastily releases Jack and watches him land not on his feet but on his back.

Jack grimaces and looks up to him. It's his eyes again; they're filled with agitation, confusion, and _pain_.

And when he sees the pain in those _beautiful_ blue eyes, Bunnymund wonders why he was angry in the first place.

"You don't need to be so rough..."

There is an apology waiting to escape from his lips, but Bunnymund bites his tongue.

_Hypnotizing_.

"I wouldn't have to be rough with ya if yah didn't make it snow on _my_ day!"

Jack stands back up and leans on his staff never loosing eye contact with Bunnymund.

"Sheesh, you're just no fun."

Before Bunnymund can retort, the winter spirit is gone and so is most of Bunnymund's anger.

But what does linger is an odd sadness that Bunnymund knows the cause of.

He misses Jack's bright blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

There's something to be said about those who never seem to learn their lessons; namely, a certain E. Aster Bunnymund.

"It was an accident, Bunny!"

"Harm not done, Bunny. Go. Apologize to Jack, now!"

The Sandman's only response was an image of a clearly upset Jack and an exclamation mark. Bunnymund got the message, but he could not understand why Tooth, North, and Sandy were ganging up on him, the victim of Jack's "snow and fun times", as if he was the one at fault.

. . . . .

It was pretty early to be preparing for Easter, but Bunnymund had lots of googies to paint for billions of egg hunts around the world. Besides this act being a part of his duty as the Easter Bunny, Bunnymund actually enjoyed decorating his Warren and the eggs as a hobby. Yes, a day in his spring infused home with his paint brush in hand and the gentle heat of the sun brushing against his fur-

_ Soothing_.

And it reminded him of something even more refreshing: the sound of a certain winter spirit's laugh which he was able to hear quite often these past years. After Jack became a guardian officially they'd grown considerably closer. The winter spirit made it a point to visit the Warren often and Bunnymund did the same for Jack's lake.

"Bet he'll fly in soon..."

As if Jack had heard him, there he was walking down a newly made ramp of ice leading straight to Bunnymund.

"Missed me?"

"And if I did, Frosty?"

Bunnymund wasn't shocked when Jack paused, a little longer than necessary, to form a reply. Then he grinned at the Pooka with blue eyes filled to the brim with mischief.

"How _couldn't_ you?"

Suddenly, a snowball landed right on Bunnymund's nose and he spent a good two hours chasing the blighta around his home while being assaulted by snowballs, and mini-blizzards before it happened.

Chasing Jack, playing with him, was so grand, so energizing, so...

_Fun_.

And distracted as they'd been, neither Bunnymund nor Jack noticed how close they were to a group of googies until it was too late. It felt as if it happened all to slowly to be reality.

Bunnymund tackled Jack with a grin of his own. The winter spirit gasped at first, but began to laugh when the Pooka's fur brushed his face. Hearing the beautiful sound, Bunnymund gazed down at Jack and the winter spirit looked back. Jack's eyes were expectant, hoping, and the Pooka had planned to satisfy them both but he couldn't have. Not then, when he heard that noise and panic consumed him more than anything else.

_Cracking_.

Jack had crushed a few of his googies when Bunnymund tackled him to the ground. In his haste to possibly repair them the Pooka had roughly shoved Jack away as the fear of...

_ "Too late now."_

...rattled his mind. It all came back to him so fast. Thousands upon thousands of broken shells laying in the tunnels leading out of the Warren. No eggs to be found at a single Easter egg hunt. Children returning home disappointed as they walked through him because _they no longer believed_.

"Why weren't you _there_? All of them, gone-"

He was reliving that ruined Easter too abruptly, too quickly, too early to not be ravaged by it. At the back of his mind, Bunnymund knew Jack still felt guilty about it and that it really hadn't been his fault, but it had hurt.

"I hadn't meant to...Pitch...my teeth...I-"

"Save it! Even if you got to Jamie in time, all of my work! Dead. Gone!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Don't ya stare at me like that with those eyes of yours. Look what ya did to my googies just now!"

"I didn't mean to hurt them. I didn't even see them! You tackled _me_."

"Get. Out."

Jack's eyes never sparkled so brightly until that moment: two dams of unshed tears.

"Gladly."

* * *

A/N: Oh, hey there! Here's an update!

Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, following, and adding this to your favorites!


	3. Chapter 3

It's not as if they never fought. It's just that it never ended so badly before. Bunnymund had been angry and _terrified_ then, but now he felt extremely guilty about the whole ordeal. The looks the other Guardians gave him (along with their scoldings) made him feel even worse.

Bunnymund knew how harsh he'd been and he knew what had to be done too. However, knowing and doing were two completely different things.

"How do I apologize when I don't know where the blighta's run off to anyhow?"

It was a last ditch effort really. Even though he was clearly the one in the wrong, he didn't want to back down so easily. Amazing how convincing Baby Tooth could be with that pointy nose-beak? of hers.

"Bloody- okay, okay little sheila, I'm going, just show me the way."

Sandy gave him a thumbs up; Tooth still looked extremely upset; and North was the worst of them all: He had his hands on his sides with quite a terrifying frown on his face. The yeti, Phil, made the expression a thousand times worse as he stood towering behind North with a scowl as he seemed to make hand motions that looked awful violent. Well if looks could kill...

...he'd be a Pooka souffle by now.

. . . . . .

"Jack, mate, come out please?"

The winter spirit was barely noticeable among the stalagmites of the cavern, and Bunnymund was sure that if it hadn't been for the help of Baby Tooth he would not have found him. Jack sat to the back of cavern staring (Bunnymund assumed) at the crevices of the wall. He was just sitting so still that the Pooka nearly bounded over to check if he was alright.

They _both_ knew he wasn't.

And that's exactly why Bunnymund was staying right where he was. Jack didn't need someone to worry over him right now; he needed an apology and that's exactly what Bunnymund was going to give him. _Really_.

"Frosty? Look at me. I-"

But why did apologizing have to be so _hard_.

"W-Why should I?"

The hood of Jack's hoodie covered most of his hair and eyes as Jack stood up to face the Pooka. Bunnymund visibly shivered when he heard the tremble in his voice.

"Because I want to apologize, but your making it mighty difficult by running away like that and keep'in that hood over your face!"

Bunnymund realized his first mistake too late: he'd snapped. This clearly wasn't going to work if the way Jack was gripping the sides of his hood tighter and tighter as the Pooka finished yelling was anything to go by.

"You said you didn't want me to_ look_ at you."

Jack's voice was thick with tension as he spoke in barely a whisper.

"You told me to _get out_, but now you want to _apologize_?"

At that moment Bunnymund wanted to take everything back. His crushed googies were not that big of a deal anymore, just Jack, only making it up to Jack. But how could he explain himself properly? The googies, if destroyed before their time of use, were simply reborn for the next Easter because of his spring-related powers. However, the Pitch incident was a horrifying experience for Bunnymund. Never before had the loss of believers effected him so greatly. Now anything that damaged his googies brought the memory of it back.

"I didn't mean it, mate. Just hearing those googies, _my googies_, cracking had me reliving it. That little ankle-bitter walked right through me."

His second and final mistake was one he made quite often; he often to forget Jack had gone through that same experience multiple times before he'd become a Guardian.

"Do you think I haven't had that happen to me? It happened countless times and not _one person or spirit_ was there for me."

As they talked, Jack had gotten closer to Bunnymund and Jack's hood could not hide his face from him with their present proximity. The winter spirit's blue eyes resembled shattering glass. They were red and slightly puffy; the dams were long broken so tears were free to roll down Jack's cheeks.

"_Snowflake_."

Bunnymund had thousands of regrets: one of the many unintended consequences of being the bearer of hope. But what he regretted most was causing such pain to fill Jack's eyes. He hoped he could fix this.

And he was.

Soon after using that nickname reserved for only the most private of moments between them, Bunnymund pulled Jack to his furry chest encircling his waist with his arms.

"_I'm sorry_."

He wasn't asking for forgiveness. Bunnymund just wanted joy to consume Jack once again. Oh, how he loved Jack's eyes, but only when filled with mischief and most of all...

_Love_.

* * *

A/N:

Sorry if this chapter is a bit wordy and if it looks strange (I usually copy and paste). This chapters are gradually getting larger. Hope you like this update! Thank you so much for following, reviewing, and placing Breathing Frost on your favorites list everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

"_Snowflake_."

Jack stiffened at first, but relaxed into Bunnymund's hold. He wasn't sure what to say next, but Bunnymund didn't mind the silence.

That word meant much more than a pet name: something usually sweet said between the two. It held memories, secrets,and devotion within its nine letters. When Bunnymund used that nickname Jack knew he was sincerely apologizing.

. . . . . . . . .

"_Frost_."

They'd first met the day on Groundhog's day to see if winter would blow on or if spring was ready to blossom. Bunnymund had always hated that Groundhog, but that year spring won, and Bunnymund was nothing less than smug. "Frost," he'd called out to the winter spirit. Only his last name: not Jack, just Frost.

"Spring's start'in and I don't need your snow everywhere. You got that?"

Jack thought it was nice that he was being acknowledged at all but the tone Bunnymund used was a different matter.

"Nice doing business with ya, Cotton tail."

Bunnymund left with a fur coat full of snow.

. . . . . .

The next time they met was on the blizzard of '68. The pooka still saw the winter spirit as a nuisance and Jack loved to play tricks.

A pinch of hail. Two scoops of ice and the whole area was haunted by a _wonderful _blizzard that went on for hours. It not only covered thousands of homes but had also crippled one holiday: Easter.

"_Frostbite_-"

Harsh and freezing. It crept onto skin and squeezed till fingers and toes turned blue. Not nice, never good, always bad.

He hated that nickname just as much as Bunnymund hated being called a kangaroo.

. . . . .

He was made an official guardian after Pitch's defeat. And his relationship with both the kids and the other guardians continued to improve. But improving his relationship with the Easter bunny was (surprisingly) easier than he thought it would be. It got to the point that Bunny would invite Jack over whenever they were both free of their duties.

Jack felt that he could relax in the Easter Bunny's presence. They'd had many disputes in the past but they began to trust each other.

"_Jack_."

The pooka even called him by his first name: not Frost or Frostbite, just Jack.

While he liked his companionship with the Pooka, he want something more. But he wasn't sure what the something could be. A confident?

No.

Something more intimate?

Maybe.

Jack noticed how his eyes tended to linger on Bunnymund's figure far too long to be casual. He sometimes wondered if the Easter Bunny would bring it up. But, whether because he decided it was unimportant or that he didn't want to know the reason for it, Bunnymund never asked.

It was just a little... _disappointing_.

But, Jack wasn't going to wait forever.

. . . . .

"Hey, Bunny..."

* * *

**Author's Note**:

It's been quite while... This chapter is more of an explanation for what happens next between Jack and Bunny. Thank you so much for everyone's reviews, favorites, and follows for this story!


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